1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to spray cool thermal management systems and more specifically it relates to a spray cool system with a dry access chamber for providing convenient access to specific spray system components in a dry chamber separate from the wet chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern electronic devices have increased thermal management requirements. Conventional dry thermal management technology simply is not capable of efficiently cooling modern high-end electronics.
Spray thermal management technology is being adopted today as the most efficient option for thermally managing electronic systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,804 entitled High Heat Flux Evaporative Spray Cooling to Tilton et al. describes the earlier versions of spray technology. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,201 entitled Fluid Control Apparatus and Method for Spray Cooling to Tilton et al. also describes the usage of spray technology to cool a printed circuit board. Spray thermal management may be performed locally (i.e. where the chip is sprayed directly), globally (i.e. where the chip and surrounding electronics/boards are also sprayed), a combination of locally and globally, or in conjunction with air cooling or other cooling methods. In a spray thermal management system, most if not all of the spray components are contained within the spray chassis such as but not limited to the spray unit, the card cage, valves, pumps, filters, separators and the like.
While there are many benefits in utilizing spray technology, there are some detriments. A significant problem with conventional spray technology is that to replace, repair or test any electronic device the seal must be broken to the spray chassis thereby leading to the loss of coolant. A further problem with conventional spray technology is that when accessing the components, the user will often times come in direct contact with coolant. Another problem with conventional spray technology is that it requires all of the components to be coolant tolerant thereby increasing the overall cost of the spray cool unit. Another problem with conventional spray technology is that many of the dielectric cooling fluids absorb moisture from ambient air resulting in a risk of electrical shorting spray cooled electrical components.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for providing convenient access to specific spray system components in a dry chamber separate from the wet chamber. Conventional spray cool systems do not have a separate dry chamber for providing convenient access to spray system components such as pumps, filters, heaters, separators, sensors and the like.
In these respects, the spray cool system with a dry access chamber according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing convenient access to specific spray system components in a dry chamber separate from the wet chamber.